Page 46 - Demo

46Friends are a key to a maximum life because you will never rise above the level of your closest friends. Mark that well. It's really much like what I was just talking about with partners. You never rise above the level of your closest friends. It's true. Birds of a feather do flock together. So, if you want to soar with eagles, you can't run with the turkeys.\ not be misled: 'Bad company corrupts good character.'\very frank with you about some relationships here, very frank. If you're serious about living the maximum life and being all God meant you to be, you may have to break off some friendships that you have right now. That's the truth. Bad company does corrupt good character. One of the reasons that some of you have stalled on your life mission or gone full steam ahead with God is because you're afraid of what that will do in a relationship. You're afraid you will be rejected. You're afraid they will disapprove. You're afraid you will be ridiculed or whatever. Do you want to waste your time, waste your life, simply seeking to be popular?Simply stated, the bottom line is: %u201cDo I care more about God's approval or someone else's?%u201d If you're honest with yourself and your answer is: I really do care about someone else's approval more, the Bible calls that idolatry. That is simply putting someone else in God's place. We've got another word for it today, today we call it co-dependency. Co-dependency is letting someone else set the goals, the purposes and the ambitions of your life. You can call it whatever you want, the bottom line is it's wrong. It's wrong and it blows the maximum life out of the water.Some of you may need to ask some tough questions about some of your closest relationships. You may need to ask: %u201cAre they helping or hindering my life mission?%u201d %u201cAre they bringing out what God wants in me?%u201d %u201cAre they drawing me closer to God, or are they drawing me farther away from Him?%u201d When you get to the last question and if you find they're drawing you farther away from God, that person is no friend. I don't care how long you've known them. They are no friend. Then how does one get the right kind of friends?\ kind of friend. You attract what you are, you reap what you sow. What you give as a friend to others is usually what you get. If you want time invested in you, you'll have to do the same, but you need friends, you need godly friends, or your life won't be what it can be.5.You need a Savior to save you.Jesus said '\the world through Him.\If our greatest need had been an educator,God would have sent us a teacher. If our greatest need had been a new philosophy,God would have sent a philosopher.If it had been money,God would have sent an economist. If our greatest need had been in entertainment,